Illinois Hires Missouri Defensive Coordinator Ryan Walters as New Defensive Boss
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Bret Bielema’s defensive boss at Illinois has reportedly been hired.
Illinois has hired Ryan Walters as its defensive coordinator after he’s spent three years in the same position with a Southeastern Conference team and the Illini's rival program.
Walters, 34, was retained as the defensive boss of the Missouri program after Eli Drinkwitz was hired to replace Barry Odom after the 2019 season. The native of Los Angeles, Calif., has been part of Mizzou's staff since 2015, was promoted to defensive coordinator at the end of the 2017 season. Walters agreed to a contract extension through the 2022 season that pays him an annual salary of $900,000 making him the highest paid assistant coach on Drinkwitz’s Missouri staff.
“It is a great pleasure to bring Ryan here to the University of Illinois Football Family,” Bielema said in a university statement. “Ryan has demonstrated great success in his coaching career as an assistant, as a coordinator and as a leader of young men. He’ll be a great addition to our staff to help us motivate, recruit and develop a roster full of champions. Ryan and his family will be a terrific fit in our program, at our university and in the Champaign-Urbana community.”
“Since connecting with Ryan I’ve been very impressed with his ability to lead people and connect with the players,” Drinkwitz said in a 2019 university release announcing Walters was being retained. “I’m impressed with his work on the defensive side of the ball, I look forward to building on what’s already been established, the foundation that’s been laid. I look forward to Coach Walters leading a championship-style defense here at Mizzou.”
Walters reportedly interviewed last spring for the head coaching vacancy at Colorado, which is his alma mater after earning honorable mention Associated Press All-Big 12 Conference honors as a safety, with Buffaloes athletics director Rick George, an Illinois alum.
The 2019 Missouri defense in Odom’s final season as the Tigers head coach ranked among the nation’s best in total defense at 14th nationally in yards per game (312 ypg) and 17th in scoring (19.4 ppg). However, during this 2020 campaign, Missouri fell to 66th nationally in total defense (408 ypg) and 85th in scoring defense by allowing 32.3 points per game.
According to 247Sports.com, Walters’ recruiting successes at Missouri mostly involve the St. Louis area, an area intensely and historically important to the Illini program, including being the primary recruiter for 2019 four-star safety Jalani Williams, 2021 three-star safety Tyler Hibbler and 2021 three-star defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo.
Walters came to Missouri from Memphis in February of 2015 and was a key factor in Mizzou’s 2015 defense that finished in the Top 10 nationally in total defense, scoring defense and pass defense. As the cornerbacks coach at Memphis, Walters oversaw a defense that was among the most improved in the nation. Memphis went 10-3 in 2014, thanks in large part to its defense that ranked fifth nationally in points allowed (17.1 avg.) and 22nd in total defense (343.3 avg.) in the regular season.
“I’m thankful and grateful for the opportunity that Coach Bielema is giving me to coach with him at the University of Illinois,” Walters said in a statement. “Coach B is one of the most respected defensive minds in college football, and, as a young defensive coordinator, this is an opportunity I can’t pass up. Coach B has a proven track record of incredible success in the Big Ten, as well as his years working in the NFL, that will put our program in position to win at a high level. I appreciate the time and opportunity that I had at Missouri, but my family and I are looking forward to the new challenge in front of us as we build a championship football program.”
Walters played collegiately at Colorado, where he was a standout safety for the Buffaloes from 2004-08. He began his coaching career as a student assistant at Colorado working with the secondary in 2009, and then spent two years on staff at Arizona, where he was a graduate assistant in 2010, before being promoted to defensive backs coach for the 2011 season by then-Wildcats head coach Mike Stoops.
Walters then moved to Oklahoma as a graduate assistant cornerbacks coach in 2012, as the Sooners went 10-3 and played in the 2013 Cotton Bowl. He moved to North Texas for the 2013 season, where he coached cornerbacks and helped lead them to a 9-4 record in its first year in Conference USA and a win in the 2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl. The Mean Green defense ranked fourth nationally in 2013 in turnovers gained (34), eighth in points allowed (17.8 ppg), 13th in interceptions (18) and 17th in total defense (348.3 ypg).
As a player, Walters had a standout career as a safety at Colorado. He started 33 times in 46 contests for the Buffaloes, and earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors from the Associated Press and first-team All-Colorado honors from the state’s National Football Foundation his senior year.